The past few days have been pretty cold here. Like record breaking cold. One thing I really hate about the cold is getting Annabelle in and out of the car seat. Trying to get a coat on her for a quick run into the is a pain! I decided to make her a poncho for quick trips in and out of the car.
To make this poncho I bought fleece and flannel fabric.
STEP ONE
Figure out how much of each fabric you need. To do this measure your child from finger tip to finger tip then add two inches (remember the point of this poncho is to act like a coat). This will give you the width. Measure from shoulder to spot where you wan the poncho to go to figure out the length. Multiple this number by two, then add an inch.
If you want to add a hood, you will need to find a hood that fits your child to measure (see step two for more details on measuring the hood).
More than likely a yard or yard and a half of fabric should suffice.
I hope those directions weren’t too confusing!
Steps 2- 6 all deal with the hood. I tried to break it down so that it would be easier to know what to do. Hopefully it’s not to overwhelming!
STEP TWO
*Note in these steps I will refer to the pink fabric as the lining*
Use the hood you measured to create a new hood with your fabric.
Fold your fabric in half. Fold the hood in half and place it on the fabric and trace it, 1/2 an inch larger then the hood (we are leaving room for seam allowances).
Do the same with the second fabric.
In the end you will end up with four pieces of fabric (two pieces for each hood).
STEP THREE
Pin the two lining hood pieces with right sides together along the curve. Do the same for the outer fabric.
Sew the pieces along the curve. I added a zig-zag stitch for extra support, but you don’t have to do that.
STEP FOUR
Now you need to sew the lining to the outer fabric to create your hood.
Take your outer fabric and turn it so it is right side out.
Pin and sew along the front edge (leave the bottom open so you can turn it out).
STEP SIX
Turn the hood so that the right sides of each fabric are facing out.
Edge stitch around the edge if you wish (sorry I forgot to take a picture).
Ho-ray! You finished the hood! The rest of the poncho shouldn’t be too complicated. 😉
STEP SEVEN
Get your two fabrics you will be using for a poncho and fold them in half. In the middle cut a head hole using a shirt as a guide. You may want to test it on a scrap piece of fabric or paper bag first to make sure it’s not too large. Remember, cut small because you can also cut more if needed.
Also… these ponchos are not the correct length width wise (so the finger tip to finger tip length). I ended up adding a large ruffle to the edge so that it would be long enough to cover her hands.
STEP EIGHT
Now is the time to attach the hood!
Take your hood and match the outer fabric of the hood with the outer fabric of the poncho. Pin around the raw edges.
Sew the hood onto the outer layer of the poncho.
Next up is to attach the lining of the poncho. You want to trap the hood between the outer layer and lining. The fabrics should be right sides together.
Here is how it looks all pinned up.
Once you have it sewn you can flip the lining through the head hole.
STEP NINE
If you want you can add a ruffle to the poncho. I didn’t take a lot of picture of this, but I will do my best.
You need to create a ruffle for both the lining and outer layer. Depending on if you want a ruffle on all sides of the poncho you may end up with 8 ruffles (four for the outer layer and four for the lining).
To attach the ruffle, pin it to the edge of the poncho with right sides together. This is the best picture I could get.
Final step! Now it is time to finish the edges. You have two choices.
One: Fold the edge of the outer fabric over a little and use a small zig zag stitch to sew down.
Two:
Use a zig zag stitch around the edge.
So there you have it!
I think she looks pretty cute. 🙂